Returned marine told VA hospital he was thinking about suicide. Placed 26th on the waiting list.

[Dover]

This Marine's death came after he served in Iraq
When Jonathan Schulze came home from Iraq, he tried to live a normal life. But the war kept that from happening.

By Kevin Giles, Star Tribune
January 26, 2007 – 11:38 PM

At first, Jonathan Schulze tried to live with the nightmares and the grief he brought home from Iraq. He was a tough kid from central Minnesota, and more than that, a U.S. Marine to the core.

Yet his moods when he returned home told another story. He sobbed on his parents' couch as he told them how fellow Marines had died, and how he, a machine gunner, had killed the enemy. In his sleep, he screamed the names of dead comrades. He had visited a psychiatrist at the VA hospital in Minneapolis.

Two weeks ago, Schulze went to the VA hospital in St. Cloud. He told a staff member he was thinking of killing himself, and asked to be admitted to the mental health unit, said his father and stepmother, who accompanied him. They said he was told he couldn't be admitted that day. The next day, as he spoke to a counselor in St. Cloud by phone, he was told he was No. 26 on the waiting list, his parents said.

Four days later, Schulze, 25, committed suicide in his New Prague home.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/963363.html

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This is a HUGE issue that is only growing larger everyday and will have repercussions for communities all over the U.S. one way or another. It WILL touch all our lives. Please join with communities and local health care people to bring these soldiers the kind of careful attention they need. And continue to pressure your local and federal government for more and better care!
And we must try with all our courage and strength to prevent them from going to 'war' under this regime in the first place!!! We need to throw our bodies on the tracks of this runnaway train.

I'm going to put this radio interview up once more for those who missed it. It's one psychotherapist who is trying very hard to organize communities to receive their returning soldiers in ways that address PTSD and other problems. We need to learn just HOW to receive them back home and understand the ghosts they carry with them. The VA hospitals are swamped and their techniques for dealing with these profoundly life-altering experiences are often not adequate (and too institutionalized).
Please donate time and/or funds for this or any number of organizations that are working hard to help.

Check out Soldier's Heart and get their newsletter here:
http://www.mentorthesoul.com/soldiersheart.htm

And listen to a recent radio interview or read an article by it's founder, Ed Tick, Ph.D
Listen here - http://clipcast.wpr.org:8080/ramgen/wpr/bme/bme070111m.rm

Article: Laying the Ghosts of War to Rest
http://www.mentorthesoul.com/soldiers_heart/Jan_07_final.pdf

[skipos]

1. Very sad. I am also very angry

that there are so many flag waving "support or President and our troops" types who would love to take money away from VAs if it means lower taxes for them.

[uppityperson]

3. k&r, this is so sad and I am so angry.

Support the troops. Get them the help they need for the problems they encurred while serving.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. That's quite a headline. Thanks for posting this. n/t

[asjr]

4. This is so heartbreaking. It should not happen.

The negligence shown by our "leaders" is enough for impeachment in my view. The callous disregard they have for anyone and anything not neo-con or self-serving is immense. When will it end?

[Dover]

6. We need to stop waiting for changes at the top and just roll up our sleeves...

We can't behave as though we are powerless.

There are any number of ways to do battle and promote healing around this problem.

Whether it's working to prevent them from going in the first place, or getting some training in how to treat these profound emotional/physical/mental/spiritual wounds as a family or a community, volunteering time in support of those who ARE doing the healing....we just need to jump in and start.

[blue cat]

5. Reading this brought tears to my eyes.

So sad. A young life wasted.

[burf]

7. I remember

when the now "Commander in Chief" was a candidate and his "Promises made, promises kept" talk when addressing veterans organizations. Talk is cheap. Look what it bought you Mr pResident.

[Dover]

dupe/delete

[Dover]

8. If you have a loved one on active duty somewhere, or one who will be soon..

it might be very helpful to begin educating yourself about these 'ghosts' and how to deal with them NOW, before your loved one returns, while in the meantime helping others. And one way to do that is to get involved with organizations, doctors/healers, and get your communities involved as well, so that these returning men and women have a safe place to fall and the right kind of attention and treatment. Communities can be a crucial secondary support for families of returned soldiers. I don't think there are many who realize just how much THEIR lives, the lives of their family members and the community as a whole can/will be affected by the changes in their returning soldiers.
We can do this...

[ShockediSay]

9. When we were back at 3,000 US soldiers killed, 93 were suicides

in Iraq.

http://jimhightower.com/node/6024
(restricted)

So tragic

[lebkuchen]

10. I wonder what made Nicholson think he was budgeted for our wounded

when he took the VA position? Dems tried to give him money, and Jim Nicholson, former chairman of the NRC and a vet, refused the offer.

[Dover]

11. Letter of response to this incident by a fellow soldier

Found this letter at the IAVA website:

Be Ready With the Mental Health Safety Net
by Andrew Borene

Americans who risk their lives for their nation also deserve access to treatment once home.

The real tragedy in the wake of the suicide of Jonathan Schulze is that the young Marine asked for help but help was not forthcoming. We can respond proactively to this travesty, if we now prepare the state to help other veterans who may also be suffering.

Reading the story of this young Marine, I recognized that the same story might have been written about me. If I had not had the luxury of inpatient treatment and a supportive community when I needed it, I might have met the same fate.

I too may have been called "the life of the party," unaware that what lay beneath the disguise of thrill-seeking behavior was sadness and shame. Many were likely fooled by my unfulfilling search for happiness and escape from my own pain. I sought importance with an early run for the Minnesota Senate, even while attending law school and with two young boys at home. In the end, nothing I did in pursuit of excitement allowed me to outrun my shadow for long. Like Jonathan, my feelings of inferiority associated with believing I had not done enough and did not merit the nightmares and the overly intense reactions to daily events, may have created obstacles to seeking help.

I have now learned that, through no fault of our own, some of us may be predisposed to long-lasting psychological effects from the experience of war. It is well known that some human beings are simply predisposed to addiction, depression, anxiety or other disorders. For many the stigma of seeking help as a "mental health" patient is almost too much to bear in itself -- so when Jonathan Schulze showed the courage and responsibility to ask for help, it should have been available.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder" has been associated with a negative connotation for so long that the Department of Veterans Affairs has suggested clinicians refer to the same set of symptoms with terms like "adjustment" disorder and "transition" difficulties. Whatever the name, it is estimated that nearly a third of our combat veterans will need some assistance in readjusting to civilian life...cont'd

http://www.iava.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2356&Itemid=116

[james101]

12. Bush just cut a bunch of VA staff

I read Bush cut a lot of staff in the VA. These were people who were assigned to help with people who were suicidal.

[Major Hogwash]

13. Over 200 Iraq War veterans have committed suicide after coming home.

After they survived the fighting in Iraq, they came home.
But, not really.

Because the fighting was still on their minds.
And they couldn't take the pain anymore.

[Dover]

14. As I've said, this is preventable. We all need to learn about these 'ghosts'

and get educated on how to receive our soldiers home again. As a society/community we must take the difficult step up to the plate and reach out to our vets and returning soldiers, as well as their families, hear their stories, and embrace their pain.